[A/N This is my first shot at an Avengers fanfiction. I'm full of motivation to write more, so let's hope it stays that way! :) Enjoy.]

Stark Spangled Man

Part 1.

Everybody had moved into the new Stark Tower. Made and designed mostly by Tony himself, but Pepper had had a hand in it.

Which, actually, only made the break-up worse for Tony because a lot of little things in the house reminded him of the woman he loved. That painting. Horrific modern art, but Pepper had insisted on putting it there. He would think, his usually carefree and witty personality temporarily hidden behind a veil of sadness.

Of course, Tony being Tony handled this pain the way he handled every setback in his life. Alcohol and women. Lots of both and preferably the combination.

Steve wasn't exactly surprised to see different women leaving Tony's bedroom almost every morning, but that didn't make it any easier to stomach. He had heard about the man, knew what he was like with women. But when Steve first met him, he had been in a somewhat steady relationship with Pepper, and he had seemed like a good man to her. Cared for her, looked after her. Even if Captain America and Iron Man hadn't been able to stand in the same room together without bickering about nonsense, they had respected each other to some length.

Steve had even gone as far as to admire the other man when he saw him fly the nuke into space, risking his life for all of them and having a total selfless near death experience.

But then the break-up with Pepper came. She couldn't handle the pressure. When Tony had become Iron Man, Pepper had known he was in for a difficult and dangerous job. She thought she would be alright with it and was for a while. However, when Tony was offered a place in the Avengers Initiative after all (even though he was not a team player and a textbook narcissist, according to Natasha), things had gotten slightly out of hand. Pepper couldn't handle it and decided some space between them was for the best. Tony had seen it coming, but it was still painful. Because he had never trusted anyone with a relationship before, and now the only person he was willing to share his heart with, had left him alone.

So Steve understood, in some way, but he didn't think the countless amount of pretty girls should make up for the hole that Ms Potts had left in the battery-charged heart of Iron Man.

Tony slept with them, left the room when they could actually fall asleep, and when they woke up in the morning and were greeted by the cheerful voice of Jarvis, the rest of the Avengers were left to show her the way out. Steve wasn't the only one sick of the tear-stained cheeks and the disappointed faces of the heart-broken girls.

Natasha, Barton, Bruce and Steve were enjoying a well-cooked breakfast by Thor, who was smiling

broadly as he sat down next to them, his own plate filled with an amount of food that could keep the rest of them alive for a couple of weeks. They were all cautiously staring in the direction of the hallway. It was 11:00 and no sounds to be heard yet.

"Maybe this one sleeps a lot?" Natasha offered, waving her bread-filled hand in the direction of the deserted hallway which led to Tony's bedroom, where a disappointed female could be escaping from anytime soon.

"Or perhaps she was kept up for slightly too long last night." Steve mumbled, dropping his usual old-fashioned politeness. Bruce shot him a look. "I'm just sick of it." He explained to Bruce, "He shouldn't be treating women like disposable plastic cups, and we shouldn't be the ones to deal with the aftermath."

"Steve, as much as I think we all agree on that, you know how Tony is. He has never experienced a break-up, and besides, he isn't much worse than he was before you met him. He's always been like this." Bruce reasoned, the only one still capable of keeping up with their friend's behavior.

"Besides," A voice known suspiciously well by them because God knows it was used WAY too much, mimicked Bruce, "it's his house and you are all free to leave the most awesome, modern and tech-filled house on the planet whenever you want." They all turned in the direction of Tony, who was casually leaning against the wall, arms crossed over the blue glowing arc reactor. While normally a person would be offended, walking in on a negative-tinged conversation about himself, Tony was smirking and proud on having caught them in the act.

"Tony, look. We all owe you since you saved our lives, and the planet, and whatever the fuck else you did I'm not going to list because your ego might just explode. And yes, this is your glorious tower and we are all happy to stay here instead of the small, low-budget, window-and-bathroom-less rooms Fury had us stay in. However," Clint held his hand up before Tony could interrupt, "We still are your guests, and you are to treat us as such." The host in question went to fetch himself a cup of coffee before settling down in a chair between Thor and Steve.

"I don't get what it is that bothers you so much." Tony couldn't keep the smirk from enchanting his lips.

"Live one month with Tony Stark and you'd think the self-statisfied smirk is a permanent part of his face." Came another mumble from Steve.

"Listen here, big guy." Said mr Stark turned around in his seat and looked at Steve in all seriousness. "You are disorientated and alone in this new and modern world and we are the only ones keeping you to your senses. Will you be grateful instead of whining about the amount of women I fuck? I think you're just jealous because the only woman who wanted you continued her life on without you while you were having your beauty-sleep in a block of ice." Tony shot back at him in defense, sarcasm the only thing keeping him from showing how he really felt inside. Steve visibly cringed, and the rest of the team-members watched in horror as the eyes of their Captain began to water. His chair flew back as he abruptly stood, fists clenched and jaw set, piercing blue eyes staring Tony down. He was unable to come up with a reply as frustration, rage and sadness piled up and rendered him senseless. He stormed off towards his room, or, he realized with horror, Tony's room in Tony's house. Because Tony was right, Steve would be nothing without them, and that's what made it worse. Tony was always right.

"Apologize to him. Now." Pepper, who had heard everything presumably from Natasha, ordered her ex-lover through the telephone.

"Never been my boss, not even my employee anymore and still ordering me around!" Tony huffed into the phone, while he knew she was right. As much as he hated to admit it, because Tony Stark never, ever would admit to being wrong, Pepper was right. He should be apologizing to his Father's favorite creation (even though Howard Stark had told him in a video that his greatest creation had been Tony himself, he refused to believe it). He was sitting on his bed, head leaning on the arm that was resting on his knee. "I know." He then said in serious reply to what was more of an order than a question. "I just don't know how." He mumbled softly. Pepper sighed, probably wondering how she could have ever dated this emotional disaster of a man.

A soft knock on his door brought Steve to his feet, wondering who in the world would want to talk to him while he was knee-deep in emotional shit. He cautiously opened the door a bit, poking his head out to look for his visitor. When he saw the brunette-with-amazingly-shaped-beard standing outside, he considered throwing a temper tantrum and refusing to let him in, but instead chose to be just slightly more mature by snapping a sturdy "What do you want?" first. Hey, he only went for slightly more mature!

"Look, Steve, I eh.. You know what I said.. I mean I'm trying to say that, I.."

Pepper had warned him about this.

"Nope, too much 'I' per sentence. The only thing that I want to hear consists of one 'I'." Steve tried shutting the door and was only mildly surprised when a foot blocked the way. What surprised him more was the pair of big puppy-dog eyes Tony was pulling on him as he tried to desperately keep the door open without getting his foot broken by the serum-filled guy before him.

"I…" Tony gulped, he actually gulped before being able to get the sentence out, "I'm sorry." That was all Steve needed to hear and he opened the door, letting the man who looked as broken as Steve himself felt into his room. They needed to sort out whatever it was that made them fight so often.

They needed to talk.

Half an hour after Tony had left the room to apologize to Steven (after multiple persuasions from both Pepper and the team), Natasha was left wondering what was taking the self-centered genius so long. Curious as she was, she tip-toed her way to Steve's room, her stealthy movements helping her greatly as she made her way there unseen. She laid her hand on the handle of the door to Steve's room and ever so gently moved it downwards. She managed to peer into the room without making a sound, and even kept her surprised gasp too low to hear. She hurriedly walked back to the sitting room where she was greeted by the questioning looks of the other, just as intrigued, Avengers.

"No one is allowed in Cap's room for the next hour." She declared, the image of the two men hugging while sobbing on each other's shoulders still printed clearly in her mind.

[A/N Eh yes. Hope you liked it!]